Concord Grape Pie and Grape Bread....a Labor of Love

One of the things I look forward to most in anticipation of Fall is all the great baking I can do.

One of my most favorite thing to make is grape pie from Concord grapes grown in the Finger Lakes.

I just need to drive about 45 minutes to get to Naples, NY where the grapes are homegrown in abundance. I like to stop at roadside stands to buy them or go to Joseph's Farm Market just on the edge of town.

The drive down there is beautiful, especially in the Fall and the scenery all the way never gets old.

Making grape pie is a labor of love. Harvesting the grapes is not part of it but I did have a summer job once where I had to tie all the long vines up before the fruit appeared so they could hold the weight of the grape clusters.

We will start with these...

I call it a labor of love because of how you have to prepare the grapes. It is not hard, just time consuming.

You have to squeeze the grape out of it's skin......on all of them!

Cook them down and then smash the seeds out of the pulp....

Here's the recipe so you can get started. It is from Applehood and Motherpie, a local Junior League cookbook.

Finger Lakes Grape Pie with Two
Crusts or Streusel Topping





Two pie crusts for the two crust version. One pie crust for the Streusel version. I use Pillsbury All Ready Pie Crusts. I think they are as good as homemade.



For the Filling:

3 cups Concord grapes                                            

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon butter, melted

Wash, drain and stem grapes. Remove and reserve skins. Simmer pulp for 5 minutes.

While hot, press pulp through sieve to remove seeds, or use a pestle and strainer.

Combine strained pulp with skins.

Combine sugar and flour and add to grapes. Blend in lemon juice and butter.

Pour into crust. If using Pillsbury pie crust, you will have a second crust for the top or you can use the streusel topping below.

For the Streusel topping:

This recipe is from Thru the Grapevine, another Fingers Lakes region cookbook.

1/2 cup quick cooking oats                                       Mix oats, sugar and flour; cut in butter.

1/2 cup brown sugar                                                  Place on top of pie.

1/4 cup flour

4 tablespoons butter

Bake the pie at 425 for 10 minutes and then 350 for 30 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned.

I had a bunch of grapes left over so I decided to try Grape Bread. I had just enough to make the filling and it was similar to preparing the grapes for the pie. Bonus! It makes two loaves!

Just look at this gorgeous purple dough!

 Not as pretty when they are baked....

But oh so delicious!!

Here is the recipe I used. I got it online from the Farmer's Almanac Staff.

Concord Grape Bread

1 cup Concord grapes

2 1/3 cups sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

Remove grapes from stems and wash. Slip skins from grapes and set aside. Bring pulp to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. 

Press through sieve to remove seeds. Add skins to pulp and place in blender for a few seconds.

Bring grapes to a boil and simmer 20 minutes.

Mix together 1/3 cup sugar and cornstarch until well blended. Add this mixture and the lemon juice to the grape pulp and bring to a boil again. Cook for 5 minutes until thick. Allow to cool.

Add eggs, oil, 2 cups sugar, and vanilla. 

Sift together the dry ingredients and add them to the grape mixture. Stir until moistened. 

Pour into two greased and floured 9 x 5 bread pans. 

Bake at 350 for one hour (mine was done in about 56 minutes).

Enjoy!!

AnnMarie xoxo

I am linking up with these blog parties this week:

Wonderful Wednesday
Talk of the Town
Full Plate Thursday
Best of the Weekend
Anything Goes Pink Saturday
Happiness is Homemade
Dishing It & Digging It

Cheddar Apple Bread

There are those foods every Fall, usually comfort foods, that conjure up memories of years past and have become staples in my kitchen.

This Cheddar Apple Bread is one of them.

I don't know where I got this recipe, some 30 years ago, and that is how long I have been making it. Can you tell?

I searched my own blog to see if I had ever posted the recipe, but I had not.

You are in for a treat today.

Cheddar Apple Bread

2 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

2 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup milk

1/3 cup margarine/butter, melted

2 cups (8 oz.) sharp shredded cheddar cheese

1 1/2 cups chopped, peeled apples

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Combine dry ingredients. Add combined eggs, milk and margarine to dry; mix well. Stir in remaining ingredients. Spoon into well greased and floured loaf pan.

Bake at 350, 65-70 minutes or until tester comes out clean (my oven only takes 60 minutes). Let stand 5 minutes. One loaf.

*********

I made the recipe twice, in two separate bowls, to get 2 loaves. I do not know how it would do if I just doubled everything in one bowl.

It is a very dense bread, each loaf weighing almost 2 1/2 pounds. It goes great with Butternut Squash soup, Meatloaf, Chili, Stew.....

Enjoy! Happy Fall!

AnnMarie xoxo

I am linking up with these blog parties:

Cooking & Crafting with J & J
Wonderful Wednesday
Talk of the Town
Full Plate Thursday
Share Your Cup
Best of the Weekend
Dishing It & Digging It Link Party
Over the Moon Link Party
Happiness is Homemade

Bathroom Reveal

So last night I was almost done with my bathroom reveal post with all the before and after pictures in place. I hit enter, obviously in the wrong place, and the whole thing deleted, never to be found again!

Yup, I was a little upset. I had written most of it a month ago, and since my memory doesn't go back that far, I could not recall most of it.

This is a before picture of my bathroom at Christmas time

It was just some commentary on the pain and suffering and woes of going through a renovation....ya know, like having to use the toilet that sits in the middle of the basement and showering in the tiny claw foot tub upstairs while all my toiletries are downstairs.

You almost didn't believe me, did you?

Not to mention the daily mess and miscommunication with the contractors. One major setback was to do with thinking we only wanted the floor IN the bathroom changed and not the adjacent hallway.

What? Gorgeous new tile floor next to 1960's gray linoleum?

Nope.

Delay.

I knew my colors would be black and white with Aqua accents. I also wanted a black feature wall and a chandelier hung right in the middle where the fan was. I think they thought I was a little cuckoo.

Do they NOT ever watch HGTV?

Obviously not.

So I am saving you from all the details of the renovation process and let's get on with the before and after pictures.

You're welcome.

The angles may be a little wonky because there is no where to stand to get a good picture. It is small!

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

BEFORE

BEFORE

 AFTER

And just some random pictures.....

I bought three different shower curtains, 2 different light fixtures and three shower liners before we got it right! There is a bit of a learning curve on which liner works on a walk in shower stall as opposed to a tub so as not to soak the whole bathroom after a shower!

I decided to keep the black shower curtain for Fall and Winter and the Aqua one for Spring and Summer.

What's next you ask?? I have to strip the wallpaper in the linen closet/hallway area. I will leave the trim white and re-wallpaper it in this.....

It is a Vintage Damask black and white linen look wallpaper.

I am so excited that I have a toilet that flushes every time, a shower that does not rock while in it, and a floor that doesn't take me back to the 60's, in a bad way! Actually the floor I chose takes me back to my Grandmother's bathroom in the 60's, in a good way.

I am not promising that after this bathroom area is all done that I won't have other places to update in this 1870's Victorian house of mine.

Does it ever end??

Of course I know the answer to that....I live in an old house!

AnnMarie xoxo



I am sharing with these blog parties:

Wonderful Wednesday
Share Your Style
Share Your Cup
Best of the Weekend
Dishing It & Digging It

Heaven

"The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands."

Psalm 19:1

The bridge is closed on the route to take my son to school so we have been taking an alternate route through the back country roads.

At 7:20 a.m. not much is awake but I have been seeing the first signs of Fall along the way.

Even though it is a cloudy, dreary kind of morning, I found myself praising God for the beauty around me. If my heart can swell over open fields in Upstate New York on Earth, how much more when I can see the glory of Heaven in person? Scriptures indicate that we cannot even fathom how glorious Heaven will be.

Questions started popping in my head.

Will the greens and golds of the fields be even more vibrant?

Will the sun peeking through the clouds be more majestic?

What will the weather be like?

Perfect, I think.

Will there be colored leaves falling from the trees? Will there be snow?

I hope yes on the former and no on the latter!

Will there be seasons? Will it always be Fall because that's my favorite season?

Do the flowers ever fade, like ours are now?

Randy Alcorn wrote a book called Heaven that answers some of these questions from a biblical point of view.

It is human interpretation though, which in no way compares to God's reality.

What do you think Heaven will be like?

Traveling on this road called life, I can only imagine.....

AnnMarie xoxo

I am linking up with these blog parties:
Share Your Cup
Best of the Weekend

Hey, What's Up With Blogger??

I have just realized that I have not been getting email notifications for the blogs I follow.

Knowing that most of them post frequently, and wondering where they've been, I went into a few from my sidebar and noticed that I have missed quite a few posts.

What's up with that?

I did not unsubscribe from anyone and a few that I just re-subscribed to took it like I was new and a few said I was already subscribed.

These are blogs I have been following for awhile. So why aren't I getting the emails?!

Frustrating for me and I apologize for seemingly dropping out of sight from reading and commenting on your blogs.

On top of that, my new normal for the whole email notifications for comments on my blog is that I have to go into my dashboard, click on comments and then awaiting moderation. Then I can publish them and THEN they show up on my email.

Dumb question.....are you getting my posts by email?

I realize if you are not, you won't be answering :-)

Anyone else experiencing this craziness?

AnnMarie xoxo

Stories From My Etsy Buyers

Every once in a while someone that buys something from my Etsy shop shares with me a story about why they bought it.

I love that!

Most recently Kayo bought a green glass Sunsweet prune juice jar.

This is what she wrote to me:

"thought you might like a little history as to why I purchased the "green prune bottle"... my mom used to make French dressing and put it in the green bottle. We just recently found her recipe and want the authentic bottle... glad you had it!!! Thanks... oh by the way her French dressing is awesome!!"
Kayo 

We chatted a little and not only did I get her Mom's recipe but permission to post the recipe here for you to try!

"Anne O'Keefe" recipe for French dressing:
1-11 oz. can of tomato soup 1/3 C sugar
1 C white Vinegar 1 tsp. minces onion
1 1/4 C salad oil 1 tsp. prepared mustard
1/2 tsp. paprika 1 tsp. salt
1 T Worcestershire sauce 1/2 tsp. pepper
one clove garlic-crushed 
Green Prune Juice Jar
Mix... Shake Vigorously... Refrigerate add Blue Cheese crumbles to taste...or none

Another buyer, from North Carolina, bought the vintage Edison Tech pennant I had in my shop. I asked if he was originally from Rochester, New York because Edison was and still is a high school in the city, established in 1908.

 This is his reply:

"My nephew is named Edison and I thought the pennant would make for a thoughtful and unique gift".

Isn't that cool?

Back in February, Linda from Ohio, ordered a sweet green vintage Harry and David basket to make an Easter centerpiece. She had saved a picture from Martha Stewart of the exact one and finally found the basket in my shop.

She wrote:

"I just received the lovely green basket and love it!! It's just like one I had seen in a Martha Stewart magazine; exact color and shape. It will be the centerpiece on our table for Easter and Spring."
She sent me a picture of her finished basket....

I was so inspired by her story that I took the other similar Harry and David basket out of my shop to make a centerpiece of my own.

Selling on Etsy is fun when a buyer from Gucci, Milan, buys a vintage wood desk.

Or an admin for Universal Studios buys a 1950's pull down kitchen light for one of their vignettes.

A buyer from Pixar Studios bought a bunch of vintage clothespins. I am still waiting to see what they did with them in one of their films.

There are many other stories like these from over the 6 1/2 years I have had my shop.

Just knowing that my love of vintage and the chance to hunt for fun things that others want and will treasure, makes all the other stuff about running a business worth it.

Ya know what I mean? ;-)

AnnMarie xoxo

I am linking up with these blog parties:

Best of the Weekend
Wonderful Wednesday
Share Your Cup

I Finally Found THE Peach....A Vintage Pie Recipe

I had been making the same peach pie recipe for over 30 years (ie vintage recipe!). It is from my trusted Betty Crocker cookbook.

Then I couldn't find a good peach anymore. After some not so tasty pies I gave up making it but didn't stop searching for the best peach to make my Peach Glace` Pie again.

Every August during peach season, I would ask my friends what kind of peach they use. Recipes never named a specific variety. No one could tell me. "Just use any kind" they'd say. It seemed to be a lost cause.

Until I walked into Wegmans recently where a sweet lady named Patricia was handing out samples of peach slices. She was so cute with her short white hair and white eyeglasses to match.

I asked her the million dollar question....what kind of peaches are best for a peach pie? She pointed to a display of Lori Anne Peaches that were $1.99 a pound. She didn't try to sell me the more expensive variety that she was slicing up for samples, but told me to go get a Lori Anne and she'd let me try it.

Eureka! It is a perfect peach. Not too sweet, not too hard and pretty when it is sliced.

  

I bought a bagful and went home excited to make my peach pie!

I usually cheat and use a Pillsbury All Ready Pie crust but since I was too lazy to go get one, I used another favorite recipe from years past from my Junior League cookbook. 

It is a one crust pie and the only baking you have to do is for the crust. Let's get started..

Peach Glace` Pie

Crust

2/3 cup shortening

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup boiling water

1 1/2 cups flour

Combine shortening with salt.

Add boiling water and mix.

Add flour.

Press crust into 9 inch pie plate. 

Bake at 450 for 10 minutes or until golden.

Filling:

5 cups (7 medium) sliced and peeled peaches

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 cup water

3 ounces cream cheese softened

  

Cut up enough peach slices to make a cup. Stir together sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan. Gradually stir in water and chopped peaches. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute. Cool. completely.

Beat cream cheese until smooth and then spread on bottom of cooled pie crust. Fill shell with remaining sliced peaches. Pour cooked peaches over the top. Chill at least 3 hours or until set.

I just came back from having a slice (or two!) of this pie and it was all I had hoped for!! So fresh tasting and the crust was perfect for it. It was almost like eating peaches on shortbread.

CAUTION!!

Don't do what I did! You would think I knew better after making this for so long, but it has been a while. That is my excuse and I am sticking to it...….

Make sure you cook the peaches, sugar and cornstarch till fairly thick and then let it cool all the way down. In my excitement I didn't cook it long enough and it was too warm when I put it on the top of the pie. It all seeped through to the bottom.

The pie is supposed to have a thick glaze on the top that helps to keep all the peaches in place. It was still so good that I say who cares! I will do better next time!

***I had to come back and add this tip: If you have the time, put your peaches in a brown paper bag for 24 hours. It helps them ripen and sweeten up.

I hope you try this delicious pie! Enjoy!

AnnMarie xoxo

I am linking up with these blog parties:

Dishing It & Digging It Link Party
Cooking and Crafting with J & J
Wonderful Wednesday
Full Plate Thursday
Share Your Cup
Thursday Favorite Things
Best of the Weekend